


Somnus

by didsomeonesayventus



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Insomnia, Mild Language, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, the kids are not alright, these kids are such a mess save them, they are most certainly not where is KH3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 07:12:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11179677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/didsomeonesayventus/pseuds/didsomeonesayventus
Summary: He had no time to knock, he just needed comfort.





	Somnus

Things were gray these days. They were always gray and blackened like ashes.

He saw it in Aqua, he saw it in even Terra. This sort of tired air that only appeared after a raging fire. They were all tired and all burnt to their core. They were happy- overjoyed, ecstasy woven into every hug and hand hold and touch -but twelve years had ruined so much, if not everything. They looked fine, but it was like someone had yanked the life from them.

Perhaps that was hitting him the hardest here in their arms. It’d started small, unable to sleep or slipping into things worse than nightmares before finally restlessness pushed him out of bed and down the hall. He clung to the blanket provided by Master Yen Sid for his stay in this tower (only as long as they needed him for Xehanort’s fucking fiasco, he reassured himself) before rushing into Aqua’s room. He had no time to knock, he just needed comfort.

He halted when he saw Terra was already there. It wasn’t anything crude or would make him backpedal from intruding like this. No, he was just in what would be his usual pjs- no shirt, legs in baggy pants curled on top of her sheets. His head laid on her chest like it was seeking solace, not lust. Not with how empty his gaze was. Aqua- his heart seized with guilt a moment -had never worn pjs since coming back. She used to have a nice nightgown, floaty and flowing just like her, but he’d never seen it since she came back. He and Terra had adopted more casual versions of their outfits, but Aqua seemed… uncannily stagnant, as if she refused to change.

They stared at him. He stared back. Aqua was the first to hold out her hand with a soft, if sad, smile. Terra looked away and curled up more in the crook of her arm, but made no sound of protest. Ven quickly made himself at home right between them, spreading his smaller, lighter blanket on top of them. Terra kicked it off not even a minute after, but neither of his friends were offended. Aqua fingered the material from under several comforters, making sure to acknowledge Ven’s presence.

The room was dark, bathed in the gray light of the moon. The ceiling vanished into shadow almost immediately, hanging over their heads in an unreadable omen. Their fingers found each other and tangled tightly for reassurance before dancing away again in shame.

Ven felt small. Tiny, like a child between two graves or a simple raft caught in a narrow passage between solemn rocky fjords. He’d ducked lower so Terra could still lay his head on Aqua’s chest, but that made everything feel tight. He wasn’t as small anymore, honestly. He was growing more and more each day, catching up with years and years of stasis with every second. He was gangly, and awkward, and too big to do what he was used to sometimes, but nestled between his friends was the smallest he’d ever felt.

He broke the silence first, “’Night.” It was soft, tired, but almost jaunty. A small piece of old Ven caught somewhere in the withheld “good” and the carelessly trimmed speech.

“Goodnight, Ven…” Aqua replied, a tired lilt with aimless melody and melancholy refrain that sounded like she could say it over and over again seamlessly. It had no end but the soft press of her lips against his hair.

Terra said nothing. His hand patted Ven’s shoulder with the weight on his own, too hard if it were anyone else, but Ven accepted the gesture just as fondly as Aqua’s reply, maybe even welcomed the new soreness in his shoulder (not like Vanitas, he couldn’t be anything like Vanitas, he’d never relish pain like he did) amongst his usual and not-so-usual and maybe too welcome wounds.

Ven didn’t want either of them to feel left out, but he couldn’t find sleep just laying there on his back. He looked for their hands, a blind scramble for something to cling to, to reassure him that they were really here and this wasn’t a dream.

And after hours of silence and staring and wavering states somewhere between asleep and awake, the three fell into a deeper slumber than usual just before the crack of dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> OKay so I've been neglecting my duties as a fanworks creator recently but I wrote this up as part of a meme that'd been sitting in my RP inbox for literally a month or so AND DAMN DOES WRITER'S BLOCK END UP MAKING THE BEST SHIT
> 
> damn I have not written this well in a while.


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